Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am very disappointed with the Minister's reply. It is too cold. I asked him to meet the couple and he should meet them. They can inform him on why there are issues across the hospital system. He is saying he has been informed by the HSE and the Coombe hospital. The Coombe hospital has not covered itself in glory in regard to this case. There are fundamental lessons to be learned from this case alone and how the Coombe hospital dealt with it. As the Minister has put the Coombe hospital and the HSE in charge of what happens in the Midlands Regional Hospital, Portlaoise, so it has to be beyond reproach.

I acknowledge improvements which might have been announced today or last year and so on but this case was not even reported to the coroner. It was only reported to the coroner in recent months. That is very worrying. The apology is a qualified apology and the full story has not come out. There are issues in terms of what happened here. There are issues around the registrar. Did the authorities pursue those issues? Greater clarity needs to be brought to the situation as a matter of urgency.

Just because it happened many years ago is no reason to try to push it to one side and say, "I have been informed" and "I have no role in individual cases", because the Minister does have a role. I never said the Minister had access to files. However, when cases such as this one come to light, we all have a role. I could easily say I have no role. It was quite incidental that I came across the couple involved. I did not seek out the case to raise it in this House. I met the couple on a doorstep and they came to me months later and asked me to raise the matter here. The Minister should meet the couple. He may learn something through their experience about how the system works.

There should be an independent inquiry. What we have had so far is not an independent inquiry. The Coombe Hospital has not covered itself in glory in this matter and that needs to be revealed and lessons learned. Full accountability and answers as to why it was not reported to the coroner at the time are also required.

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